Thursday, July 25, 2019

[Botany • 2019] Camellia chinmeii (Theaceae) • A New Species of Camellia sect. Paracamellia in Taiwan


 Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang

in Lee & Yang, 2019.
 DOI: 10.6165/tai.2019.64.321
  
Abstract
A new species of Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang (Theaceae; sect. Paracamellia Sealy) is described. Camellia chinmeii has sessile flowers, six to ten perules, four or five white, early deciduous petals, yellow radiating stamens separate to the base or nearly so, style 6-7 mm long and fused 1/2 to 2/3 from the base, densely tomentose ovary. The fruit is a globose, beaked or unbeaked capsule.

Keyword: Camellia chinmeii, New species, Section Paracamellia, Theaceae, Taiwan

Fig. 1. Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang.
A. Habit; B. leaf, adaxial surface; C-G. perules; H-J. petals; K. stamens and carpel, moving out tepals; L. style and stigma; M-P. fruits, M. immatured, olive colour, N-P. matured, brown colour, P. seeds.

Fig. 2. Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A. Yang.
A. Ms. Chin-Mei Hung stood in front of the tree of C. chinmeii in field; B. flower; C. fruit opening with the seeds inside; D. fruit; E. style and stigma; F. stamens; G. perules, petals and stamens, from left to right. (Photos, A, B, C, D taken by Shih-Lin Lee, and E, F, G taken and arranged by Yi-Fu Wang)

Camellia chinmeii S.L. Lee & T.Y.A, Yang, sp. nov. 

Diagnosis: Similar to Camelia brevistyla, but differing in having fewer stamens, fewer filaments free from each other, longer styles and smaller fruit. It is also similar to Camellia confusa, but has smaller leaves and flowers, fewer stamens and smaller fruit. It is also similar to Camellia hengchuensis, but has thin leaves and globose fruit. It is also similar to Camellia kissi, but differs in having the filaments free from each, longer styles and globose fruit.

Distribution and ecology: Endemic to Taiwan. Camellia chinmeii mainly occurs in mountainous areas between 2000 and 2350 m on gentle slopes in forests on Mt. Weishangshan, Nantou County, in central Taiwan.

 Etymology: The specific epithet, chinmeii, honors Ms. Chin-Mei Hung, wife of the first author, who first recognized Camellia chinmeii as a new taxon in 2010; she passed away during a field trip on 6 December 2014.

    


Shih-Lin Lee and Tsung Yu Aleck Yang. 2019. Camellia chinmeii, A New Species of Camellia sect. Paracamellia in Taiwan. Taiwania. 64(3); 321-325.  DOI: 10.6165/tai.2019.64.321